Mullaperiyar dam's storage capacity to be increased after Nov 30, says TN Water Minister

Tamil Nadu Water Minister Durai Murugan informed on Friday that the water storage capacity of the Mullaperiyar dam would be increased to 142 feet from the existing 139.05 feet after November 30. He also said that the state government is aiming to increase the height of the dam to 152 feet after reconstructing and strengthening the Baby dam.

After inspecting the Mullaperiyar dam and Baby dam in Theni, Murugan spoke to the media and said, "The current water level of Mullaperiyar dam is 139.05 feet which we are planning to increase to 142 feet after November 30. The water level has been maintained for the past 30 years at 139.05 feet."

He added, "The government is hopeful of increasing the height of the dam to 152 feet after the strengthening of the Baby dam. There are three trees near the Baby dam. The Kerala government is saying that the felling of these trees requires the permission of the state forest department and the department is claiming that the Central Forest department needs to approve the chopping off of these trees. If these trees are chopped off, then we can construct the Baby dam. This may help us to increase the water level of Mullaperiyar dam to 152 feet."

Meanwhile, on October 28, the Supreme Court had directed that the maximum level in the Mullaperiyar dam should be 139.50 feet until November 10. 

Major confusion and tension regarding the dam

Earlier on October 30, the shutters of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala which are operated by Tamil Nadu were raised further as the water level in the reservoir rose to 138.90 feet. As per the officials, the three spillway shutters were raised as the water was being released downstream. On the same day, Kerala Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine asked the Tamil Nadu authorities to draw more water from the dam since there was no dip in the inflow. He also urged them to maintain the water level. Even if they (Tamil Nadu) release four times more water than the present amount, it would not be a problem for Kerala, Augustine added.

(With ANI Inputs)